RT-AX88U and RT-AX92U as AiMesh node: No AX mode

[Intrepid2007]

Hello,

Yesterday my RT-AX92U unit arrived and I want to deploy it as a AiMesh unit.
I already have a RT-AX88U, which works fine. The only thing is that WIFI coverage at the back of my house is bad, therefore I bought the AX92U.

I use a Samsung Galaxy S10 and that phone is compatible with WIFI6 (AX HE). When my phone is connected to the AX88U unit, I see a little '6' above the WIFI logo.

When I walk to the back of my house, the phone switches to the AiMesh unit (AX92U). However, it does not show the '6' aside the WIFI logo...

I connected the 2 units via ethernet cable, so no WIFI backhaul... With a WIFI scanner app I see 2 5 GHZ signals originating from the AX92U: One signal is stronger (no SSID) than the other signal (same SSID/same channel as RT-AX88U).

I now realize that my RT-AX88U is a dualband router and the RT-AX92U is triband...

Is there something I can do to 'fix' this?? Or would it be better to return the AX-92U unit and buy a second AX88U unit?

 

[Intrepid2007]

Hello,

Yesterday my RT-AX92U unit arrived and I want to deploy it as a AiMesh unit.
I already have a RT-AX88U, which works fine. The only thing is that WIFI coverage at the back of my house is bad, therefore I bought the AX92U.

I use a Samsung Galaxy S10 and that phone is compatible with WIFI6 (AX HE). When my phone is connected to the AX88U unit, I see a little '6' above the WIFI logo.

When I walk to the back of my house, the phone switches to the AiMesh unit (AX92U). However, it does not show the '6' aside the WIFI logo...

I connected the 2 units via ethernet cable, so no WIFI backhaul... With a WIFI scanner app I see 2 5 GHZ signals originating from the AX92U: One signal is stronger (no SSID) than the other signal (same SSID/same channel as RT-AX88U).

I now realize that my RT-AX88U is a dualband router and the RT-AX92U is triband...

Is there something I can do to 'fix' this?? Or would it be better to return the AX-92U unit and buy a second AX88U unit?

After investigating I found this article:
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1039646/

According to this table, a dualband Aimesh router (RT-AX88U) and a triband Aimesh roouter (RT-AX92U) will result in the 5GHZ-2 band not available for users (SSID is 'ASUS_dwb', hidden). If the units are connected by cable or WiFI does not matter, the behavior is the same.

Conclusion: I'll return the AX92U unit..

Now I'll investigate if 2 RT-AX88U units will work as wished: Configure the 2nd unit as a Aimesh node with WIFI6 enabled.

Does anyone has this configuration and does it work like this?

 

[MikeyB]

Asus website says "Ethernet backhaul function allows you to use network cables to connect two RT-AX92U routers together. If you have on-wall Ethernet ports in different rooms of your home, this feature lets your routers communicate with one another over a wired connection, making your WiFi system even more stable and reliable. It also reserves all the three WiFi bands for your wireless devices, giving them even more network capacity."
From what you have said it appears that 5G-2 (4 stream AX) is not been freed up (or reserved) for wireless devices when using wired backhaul. Very disappointing as I was looking at this option. It also raises doubt as to whether the upcoming RT-AX95Q would have similar limitation.

Good news is I have 3 RT-AX88Us (main and 2 nodes) wired backhaul and can confirm AX works fine on all.

 

[Intrepid2007]

Asus website says "Ethernet backhaul function allows you to use network cables to connect two RT-AX92U routers together. If you have on-wall Ethernet ports in different rooms of your home, this feature lets your routers communicate with one another over a wired connection, making your WiFi system even more stable and reliable. It also reserves all the three WiFi bands for your wireless devices, giving them even more network capacity."
From what you have said it appears that 5G-2 (4 stream AX) is not been freed up (or reserved) for wireless devices when using wired backhaul. Very disappointing as I was looking at this option. It also raises doubt as to whether the upcoming RT-AX95Q would have similar limitation.

Good news is I have 3 RT-AX88Us (main and 2 nodes) wired backhaul and can confirm AX works fine on all.

That's correct, the 2nd GH-2 radio (ax) is not freed when you use wired backhaul on the AX92U...

I saw that in the AX92U, the 5G-1 radio only allows the lower channels 36..64 to be set. The 5G-2 radio allows you to set channels from 100-140

Thank you for answering my question about using a multi AX88U setup, good to know that AX works on all nodes...

One more question: Do your routers have Asus stock firmware or do they have Merlin firmware? I use Merlin firmware on my AX88U and I'd expect that to work well too in a AiMesh setup.

 

[MikeyB]

I have only used stock firmware, currently on 384.6210. I thought I read that Merlin did not support AiMesh. If guess that if Asus do not do what they advertise in freeing up all wireless bands when using ethernet backhaul on the 92U then I will have to get another RT-AX88U node to have a full 802.11AX network - complete overkill to cover my garden!

 

[rickygao]

You can unhide the dedicate channel by
Telnet/ssh into RT-AX92U and perform below commands

• nvram set dwb_wl_closed=0
• nvram commit
• Reboot both RT-AX88U and RT-AX92U

https://whrl.pl/RfTeyN

 

[spanjap]

I have 1 RT-AX88U and 2 RT-AX92u setup as AiMesh with the RT-AX88U as the main router and the 2 RT-AX92U as nodes.
It is possible to get the 2 RT-AX92U nodes also working with AX.
You have to connect your RT-AX92U nodes to the RT-AX88U with a direct LAN cable (backhaul). The AX band isn't in use then.


Please perform the following instruction:
The SSID of my WiFi is TEST (for the example).

You have to remove _dwb in nvram variable "dwb_wl_ssid=TEST_dwb"
In my example you must enter the following commands in SSH:
nvram set dwb_wl_ssid=TEST
nvram set dwb_wl_closed=0
nvram commit



After switching off and on the router my S10 phone automatically connected to the AX channel on one of mine RT-AX92U nodes.

When moving around the house between the nodes the WiFi 6 symbol stays on.

Keep in mind that you won't have more than 1Gb througput between the nodes and router because of using LAN for interconnection............


Maybe there are better ways. But this setup is working for me.



UPDATE!: It's not working 100%, because I lose my connection as of today when moving between the Nodes.

Changed settings to:
nvram set dwb_wl_closed=1
nvram commit

You have to remove the WiFi SSID on the S10 and then manually ad the SSID so it will connect even when it's hidden. This seems to be working better and automatically pick up the AX band.

 

[ROM64]

Hello, I have been reading in these forums for some time and I have decided to write in case I can help someone.

I have a kit of two RT-AX92U in aimesh mode and a PC with an Intel AX200 card. I have forced the third band SSID to be displayed and not hidden as it comes by default when using aimesh.

The fact is that I have not had any problem to connect to it, obtaining quite high transfer speeds, around 100MB / s and very stable.

The only thing that does NOT really work is that the Smart Connect is not able to integrate this third band when aimesh is activated using ethernet (which maybe it should), but it works perfectly as an independent band.

Greetings

 

[Grisu]

In Aimesh mode 2nd 5GHz band is disabled/reservated for Aimesh, either on WiFi or LAN backhaul with newer firmwares since about summer.

 

[ROM64]

Esta prueba está conectada esta mañana al nodo a través de Wi-Fi a la tercera banda controlada para el backhaul (el 5GHz-2, me permite conectarme sin problemas). Aquí ves la prueba.


https://photos.app.goo.gl/E2JUZRSHdrP5R6j97

La conexión se realizó entre la tarjeta intel ax200 y el ssid que termina en _dwb

 

[ROM64]

On the other hand, I also tell you that I tried the connection with the Intel 9560NGW that I had before making the switch to the Intel AX200, and although the SSID is seen, the connection is impossible

 

[ROM64]

Hi Grisu.

After doing enough tests I see that I suffer random disconnections from time to time when using this method. Something is not fine. I also don't see normal when I use backhaul ethernet (for testing), the 3 bands are not integrated in Smart Connect. The third, although it can be used and has cuts from time to time, is as "kidnapped".

I have opened a ticket in ASUS, they will answer me. I'll post here what they tell me.

Greetings.

 

[ROM64]

Hi all

Response from ASUS:

Seeing the information you have indicated, we indicate that the following is indicated on our website:

Ethernet backhaul function allows you to use network cables to connect RT-AX92U and other AiMesh routers together. If you have on-wall Ethernet ports in different rooms of your home, this feature lets your routers communicate with one another over a wired connection, making your WiFi system even more stable and reliable. It also reserves all the three WiFi bands for your wireless devices, giving them even more network capacity.

Kind regards,
Ivan_R
Asus Customer Service

And my new question....


Of course. I read that before. What I don't understand is what this message means in the capture I send you, when both models are specifically connected via ethernet in aimesh mode.

Can you explain what this means with ethernet backhaul?

https://photos.app.goo.gl/p6w8DBXek6DppZWK6

 

[ROM64]

By the way. The random disconnections that I suffered before, were due to the fact that every time an aimesh node is removed or added. The backhaul SSID changes to SSID_dwb and is auto hidden. There were no such disconnections, that was the only thing that happened. The connection of the third band 5Ghz-2 is very stable.

 

[ThomasDenmark]

Hi ROM64.

Looking forward to the answer from Asus on your second question. I was wondering exacly the same thing. It seems 5ghz_2 band (Wif-fi6) is not released from wireless backuphaul use, to full use for the client as Asus decribe on their homepage that it will, when you switch to Ethernet backhaul. I found an old review of the Router from Juli2019 where it seems to work sharing all 3 bands for client under the same SSID. So wondering why it wont work on my two RT-AX92U units running in a "AIMESH Router" and "AIMESH Node" setup. :|

PS. Asus support told me that when running in AIMESH mode, you cannot disable the 5ghz_2 band on your node, if you dont use it for anything (wireless backhaul or client connections), you can only disable this band on the main AIMESH Router for some weird reason. Seems their in general is room for improvements on this product and AIMESH. :|

 

[ROM64]

Hello Thomas. With ethernet backhaul, the band 5Ghz-2 WiFi AX can be free to use it for something else if it is activated so that it is not hidden and it also activates WiFi mode 6 and 160 Mhz. In this case, the backhaul does it via ethernet (the LAN icon flashes intensely). In addition the connection is very stable, fast but you have to have a WiFi-ax client, if not, it is useless to connect to this band.

Any node that you add or remove from the AiMesh network will revert any changes you make, will hide the band again and change the name you would have given it with the one you put in the SSID of the Smart Connect ending with "_dwb"

What does not seem right (within my ignorance) is that using backhaul cable this band cannot be integrated into Smart Connect and this message appears that should not appear there when it is also not true what it says in this case. This morning I tried the first firmware that came out for these routers and the message is still there with ethernet backhaul. I have tried.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/UtpAjfguVJmuaZsi6

A test made connected to the node with an Intel AX200 client via wifi-ax being both nodes connected with ethernet backhaul shows a solid and fast connection.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1dPDzXmP2nbBGf1f6

I'm still waiting for an answer from ASUS.

Greetings

 

[Grisu]

This statement is just wrong now.
At the beginning of Aimesh when LAN backhaul has been introduced it has been correct (for other Aimesh routers), you could use both 5GHz bands for Wifi-clients.
But it has changed with newer firmwares and now you can only use one band for clients and the second is reserved for backhaul.
If LAN goes down it will automatically change to wifi backhaul using this exclusive band.

 

[ROM64]

Sorry to contradict you Grisu, but this test is performed with the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.384_6437.
I pulled up the name of the SSID so it can be seen. Dedicated is not. Even when the backhaul is WiFi. What happens is that in the latter case, you subtract effectiveness. Which does not happen when it is ethernet.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/5icJArBmaesJ9j3h8

If you want me to perform a test, which has not occurred to me, I have no problem doing it. I have time

Greetings

[QUOTE = "Grisu, publicación: 539760, miembro: 31244"] Esta afirmación es incorrecta ahora.
Al comienzo de Aimesh, cuando se introdujo el backhaul LAN, era correcto (para otros enrutadores Aimesh), podría usar ambas bandas de 5 GHz para clientes Wifi.
Pero ha cambiado con los firmwares más nuevos y ahora solo puede usar una banda para clientes y la segunda está reservada para backhaul.
Si la LAN se cae, cambiará automáticamente a red de retorno wifi utilizando esta banda exclusiva. [/ QUOTE]

 

[ROM64]

I leave you a video of the process in case you see that I was wrong about something

https://photos.app.goo.gl/TPoxKefLuM9cN4eF6

Greetings

 

[Grisu]

Dont know what you want to tell us now.

BThe backhaul SSID changes to SSID_dwb and is auto hidden.

You write you can't use it because it will revert back to default backhaul settings, on the other side you show you can connect to it for some time after you changed the settings.
Not usable in my opinion.
What you want to have is one single SSID for all clients and bands for seamless roaming. That has been possible with early firmwares for triband AC-routers.